Antony Starr admits having crush on his The Boys co-star

Antony Starr, best known for his intense portrayal of Homelander in The Boys, recently shared a delightful bit of personal history: he had a childhood crush on his co-star Elisabeth Shue.

Shue, who played the cunning and composed Madelyn Stillwell in the first season of the hit show, left quite an impression on Starr long before they met on set.

Speaking on Late Night with Seth Meyers, Starr revealed that his admiration for Shue began during her performance as Ali Mills in the 1984 classic The Karate Kid.

“When I was little, and she was actually not that much older than me, but slightly, I was a big fan of The Karate Kid,” Starr said. “Ali, aka Elisabeth Shue, was probably my first on-screen crush.”

Fast forward to the present, Starr couldn’t believe his luck when he found out he’d be working alongside Shue on The Boys.

“I was like, ‘Oh my God, I’m going to work with Elisabeth Shue. What am I going to do? What am I going to wear? Am I going to look okay?’”

Fortunately, Starr found Shue to be every bit as kind and gracious as he hoped. “It turns out she’s the nicest person,” he said.

He recalled one moment when Shue expressed nervousness about a scene, and his response was a mix of admiration and disbelief:

“She came up, and she goes, ‘I’m not feeling really good about this scene. I feel really insecure.’ And I said, ‘You’re Elisabeth Shue.'”

“‘You don’t come to this little jerk and say that! I don’t know, I’m trying to learn from you!'”

Though her character’s arc concluded in the first season, Shue’s performance left a lasting impression, both on audiences and her co-stars.